


The Heart Does Not See Logic

by FanGirlofManyThings



Category: Naruto
Genre: Confessions, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 14:25:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13460151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanGirlofManyThings/pseuds/FanGirlofManyThings
Summary: Shikamaru returns from a difficult mission to find Ino sleeping in his bed.





	The Heart Does Not See Logic

**Author's Note:**

> I am very new to the Naruto fandom ( I haven't even finished the Original Naruto). So this may or not be cannon divergent, I have no clue. No spoilers please! How ever I wrote this in a fit of insomnia and I like it so much I had to post it.

Shikamaru yawned as he opened the door to his bedroom. The mission he had just returned from had been a grueling one and he was ready for some sleep.

The thought of sleep was quickly driven from his mind as the light from the open door fell of his bed. Illuminated in the small patch of light lay a human shaped lump. 

He began to creep across the room, muffling his footsteps had long ago become second nature. He dug deep within himself grasping at threads of chakra, though there was very little left in his reserves,in a desperate attempt to reach for the shadows. However as he neared the bed he caught a glimpse of familiar platinum blonde hair spread on his pillow.

“Ino,” he breathed, releasing the tenuous hold he had on his chakra. 

She was curled up on her side, her back to him and the rest of the room, a thin blanket across her legs, one of his pillows clutched in her arms. Her brow was creased, eyebrows furrowed and her pretty lips were pulled into a small frown. A peaceful sleep eluded her tonight. Even still her beauty caused him to pause, as it did when she was awake. Though when she was awake her abilities as a ninja shone brighter than her beauty to him. 

“What a drag,” he muttered. He had really been looking forward to falling face first into his pillow and sleeping off this mission. He hadn't even planned on removing his clothes first. 

He would have crawled into bed next to her, they had shared tighter sleeping quarters on missions before, except she had chosen to sleep in the middle of the small bed. The thought of waking her caused him pain in his chest, right about where that traitorous heart of his lay. He had spent hours convincing himself it was a more logical decision to move on from her. But while his mind saw his reasoning, his fool of a heart did not agree. It refused to let her go. Every time he saw her, it felt as though iron bands were squeezing his heart. It hurt a little more every time he realized she would never love him as he loved her. 

With a sharp shake of his head he sent the thoughts tumbling from his head. Glancing around the room he pulled himself back to the present. Sleep, he needed sleep. After the week he’d had like hell was he sleeping on the floor. He was going to have to move her. Gently he pressed one hand against her shoulder and the other against her lower back. Before he even had a chance to apply force, he was staring down the business end of a kuni. 

Ino held one of his wrists in her hand, the other held a kuni several centimeters from the end of his nose. Feeling it was prudent not to speak, he waited for her. Her eyes opened slowly, focusing blearily on his face. Recognition and relief mixed together in her eyes.

“Oh it’s you,” she lowered the kuni and dropped his wrist. 

“It  _ is  _ my bedroom,” he told her in his usual lazy drawl, stepping back from her. “Why are you here?”

She pulled her hands into her lap, arranging herself primly on the edge of his bed. The blanket that had once covered her lay crumpled on the floor. She looked not at his face when she spoke but at a point on the wall just behind his left ear. 

“Your dad left the front door unlocked.”

_ Damn, he always does that when he drinks  _ he thought. 

“That's how, not why,” he said, hand scrubbing down his face. It had been a very long time since he'd felt this drained of physical energy and chakra. He just wanted to sleep for the next 12 hours straight. He glanced out the window. The moon was well over half way through it's nightly march across the star filled sky, a few clouds joining it lazily. It looked like he had about 6 hours before he needed to report for the mission debriefing and give his report. 

Still not looking him in the eye, she said in a very soft voice, “you were supposed to be back 6 hours ago.”

Shikamaru didn't say anything; instead he took a moment to look, really look, at Ino. Her normally proud shoulders were drooping, her bare toes fiddled with the edge of the blanket on the floor, a delicate blush had settled in the tops of her cheek bones, and her eyes and cheeks bore the signs of someone who had been crying. Realization didn't so much as dawn on him as it smack him across the face. 

He brought a hand to the back of his neck rubbing it anxiously, “you don't have to worry about me.” 

She inhaled sharply, her eyes flicking to meet his. “I wasn't,” she spit out, defensively. 

“It's too late at night to play this game,” he told her dropping his arm and shoving his hands into his pockets. Resuming his almost trademarked slouch. He met her eyes, boring into them as though he could see her soul if he looked hard enough. “You were obviously concerned for my safety. There is no other reason for you to be in my bed at 4 in the morning, the morning after a tough mission with tear tracks on your cheeks.” His voice had an edge to it, not quite angry but it warned against bullshitting him right now. 

She wiped hastily at her face with the heel of her palm as though removing the remains of her tears would remove the truth. 

He leaned back against his desk, waiting for her response to his bold statement. It wasn't worth trying to force an answer from her, she would answer when she was ready. Ino never ran away from a challenge. She seemed not to be in a rush though, spending a moment fiddling with her kuni and then staring out the window. 

Eventually she spoke, however she aimed her words at the moon not him, “You were supposed to be back 6 hours ago. The last time I saw you, you were falling back to ambush 4 enemies by yourself, yelling for Choji and I not to stop. So, yes I was a little worried.” The last words had a bit of defiance in them. She was daring him to make fun of her. 

He exhaled a long slow breath. She faced him again, her face was impassive but her eyes betrayed her nerves. 

“It was nothing we haven't done before,” he told her softly. And it was true there had been many times he had fallen back to take out enemy pursuers. It was the logical choice given the usual assets of his team, so that the information they had gathered had the best chance of reaching the Leaf Village. In fact they often ran training scenarios of similar situations. 

“I know,” she told him softly. She met his eye again, “but you've never been so late getting back before.”

“I know,” he said quietly. “I had a chance for an interrogation of a high level member of the organization. Took a little longer than I had anticipated. I'm sorry for worrying you but I will never be sorry for choosing the success of the mission and the life of my teammates, your life, over mine. That is what we agreed to when we became ninja.” 

Tears began slipping silently from her eyes, when she spoke her voice was shaky, “I know what we agreed to. You don't have to remind me!” She took a deep breath, her voice was steadier when she spoke again. “But knowing that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt each time I watch you make a logical choice that puts you at death’s door. You mean a lot to me, Shikamaru. And this time I thought I'd lost you before I got the chance to tell you.” The tears flowed freely now, washing down her cheeks in steady streams. 

Watching her cry over the thought of him dying tugged at his heart strings. He had been harboring feelings for his blonde teammate for sometime now. But he had prevented himself from acting on them or even acknowledging them too much for one reason. 

“What about Sauske?” He asked, ice sliding unbidden into his voice. 

Ino huffed out a harsh laugh, swiping at her eyes with her eyes with the knuckles of her fists. No more came now, he had struck a different kind of nerve. 

“Men are as blind as they are stupid.” She chuckled again. “I haven't spoken about him in months and I've been over him for longer. It never once crossed through that giant brain of yours that I've been making you train with me more often and lately in private for an ulterior motive. Even Choji’s called me on it and he only has eyes for food ninety percent of the time.”

Almost lazily Shikamaru tilted his head back until he was staring at the ceiling. Choji had made comments about him and Ino training alone recently. But he had brushed it off, refusing to let himself read deeper into her actions. He had 

merely allowed himself to be dragged along by her, privately enjoying the time alone with her. Outwardly he had maintained his usual passive nature. He had been a fool. He shook his head slowly, amazed that his usually flawless observation skills had failed him to such a level. 

He did not attempt to give her a verbal response. He was not sure anything he would say would be the right thing. Instead he slowly toed off his shoes, the thunk they each made sounded much louder in the silence than he knew it really was. He inched his jacket and vest off his shoulders and down his arms. Once it was off he hung them across the back of his desk chair and kicked his shoes underneath it. Gently he removed his kuni sheath from his leg dropping it on the desk behind him. He pulled his shuriken from their hiding places and tossed them carelessly on the desk. He pulled his last kuni from his waistband and with a careless flick of his wrist, it stuck straight down in the desk. Finally he reached up and tugged his hair band loose. He took a brief moment to relish the feeling of freeing his hair. Ino said nothing the entire time. She simply followed his every movement with those careful eyes if hers. Watching him as though he was a new battle opponent and she was trying to learn his movements. 

He took one step towards the bed. She tensed, knuckles turning white around her kuni. 

“What are you doing?” She asked cautiously. 

“Going to bed. I'm tired.” He answered her truthfully. 

“O-oh,” she stood, turning towards the door. She took a few small steps in that direction. 

He laid a hand in her shoulder, stilling her movement. He still faced the bed, it would be easier to say if he wasn't looking at her.   “Stay,” he paused. “Please stay?” Emotion he had not intended laced his voice. Though it said more than words could explain. 

She hesitated, tensing briefly, before nodding slowly. He slid his hand down her arm and took the kuni loosely grasped there. Without looking he tossed it onto the desk to lay among his own weapons. He gripped her hand and used it to spin her around. He gently pulled her into him, using the smallest amount of force necessary so she could stop him should she want to. He met no resistance and soon they were standing chest to chest. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his head in her hair. Carefully, as though he may be genjutsu, she returned his hug. 

“I never stopped thinking about you; the entire time I was gone,” he whispered into her hair. “I fought only to come back to you. I always do and I always will.”

A small sob escaped her lips and she squeezed him harder. He brought a hand up to stroke her hair. They stood like that for a long moment. The feeling of her in his arms was better than he ever imagined. It felt so right; it was though she belonged there. He longed to protect her, even though he knew she did not need that from him. He knew deep in his soul that he would risk everything to keep her safe and ensure he returned to her at the end of every mission. She had been his reason for fighting for much longer now than he cared to admit. He squeezed her a little tighter, almost clinging to her. 

Eventually she released him and turned towards the bed. She tossed back the covers and crawled into the bed. He followed quickly, fatigue once again gnawing at the edges of his consciousness. As soon as he was settled on his back, she laid her head on his chest, pressing her body firmly against his. He wrapped an arm around her waist. Tomorrow they would talk, spill feelings and words he would never admit to the guys. Tomorrow he would worry about how to place his swirling emotions into words and explain them to her. But for tonight he would enjoy the feeling of her in his arms. The warmth that spread through him both from where her body met his and from the loosened bonds on his heart. A small smile played on his lips as sleep claimed him.

  
The last thought that crossed his mind was,  _ Choji’s gonna give us hell. What a drag. _


End file.
